Swimmers unite!

I am a humble swimmer compared to so many of you but I love counting my laps. I swim along each length muttering the number in my head:

"Seven, seven, seven........" and it works like some sort of yogic mantra for me - I come out of the pool with such a clear head & all anxiety (which I suffer from from time to time) totally gone.

May I join too? Will probably mostly just lurk but I've been swimming with a masters club for a few years now and whilst still amongst the slowest (on the v few times I have competed I have come last!) I do appreciate the help I get with my technique. Though reading some of this thread I am clearly not paying enough attention!

I returned to the pool after DS2 late last year (had to pack in due to pg complications early doors this time ) and I'm doing my 4th swimathon next week this time as part of a team of 5 ladies from the club doing 1k each. My target is doing it in 20m or less and lass week training was doing 7.5min 400m (woo!) w 30s rests so I am hoping I can keep it going without all the faster people in my lane pulling me on.

Re lap counting, I have a swim mate pro I've just started using again. I tend to use that to check for longer swims, rather than instead of counting myself. I have found it easier to keep count if I do it in metres rather than lengths, ie 100s at a time, and spend the time between turns calculating the percentage of my set or similar.

I'm a competitive swimmer of old, thinking of getting back into it now my dc are getting older. I'm place marking so I can watch and boost the motivation. My problem is time and getting to the pool which is a bit out of the way for me.

thats a nice distance - same as I did this morning

Talk it's 25M - so 40 = 1K .

how long is the pool?

my relaxed swim is 1600 metres non stop - takes 40 minutes

My goal is to swim 40 lengths without a break before September, when I go to Turkey, to the place I always go. The sea swimming is amazing & I have a distance swim (close to shore) in my mind.

Here is where my heart is:

Thank you kaizen - I can't tell you how happy it makes me to have fellow swimmers to chat to on here as I know that many of you have been where I am now.

The breathing thing is weird isn't it? When I first got in the pool a few weeks ago I was breathing on alternate strokes and then managed to change that to breathing on every third stroke.

On my last swim I even managed the occasional breath on the 4th stroke and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting.

I have asthma though and I think I get a bit impatient in the water because even a dodery old octogenarian sculling up and down on his back is twice as fast as me

Does anyone on here have a 'goal' as such - like a competitive event that they are working towards?

Forgive me if he's a good coach, then he will list the things you do well first, before getting to the other bits. I'm a fairly competent, coached swimmer and I look like a fattish hippo with short arms and legs on underwater video (I know cos I saw myself last week). Sometimes I try to remember to breathe in for videos and I'm quite tall above water too. There are people whose body shape looks great in the water, but they are few and far between

With your breathing, your lung capacity will improve as you get better. Make sure you are breathing out slowly as soon as you put your face in the water. I don't always do this and most people hold their breath under water and do the breathing out AND in in one go. Try to release your head and 'rest' it in the water, like a pillow, and turn it to breathe as your body turns, not lift it. This should mean you can fully relax into the water at any time you need to slow down and let it 'hold' you up instead of grasping for the end of the lane. It took me months and months to do this but when it happened, it meant I could switch off and stop struggling.

Some coaches give you exercises to breathe every 3,5,7,9 strokes to improve your lung capacity, and it then makes breathing feel easier.
Sorry I've gone on a bit- hope it helps

Thank you Magimedi - I am an impatient type and want everything to happen now!

I also have this idea in my head of what I think I look like when I swim (graceful, fluid, effortlessly gliding through the water)

Whereas I suspect the reality is somewhat different (think spluttering, gasping, red-faced hippo)

Life is so unfair

I am having an assessment in the next few weeks with a swimming coach and am dreading the feedback. When I swim in the mornings he is there doing his one to one coaching sessions and they are all way faster, fitter and more accomplished than me so I am sure I will be laughed out of the pool!

From my point of view you are being impatient!

When I started 8 weeks ago I was doing about 10/12 lengths total with a break every 2 lengths. I worked up to 40 with a break every 8 lengths & am now doing it with a break every 10 lengths.

I suspect that if you only started doing front crawl 3 weeks ago (I am assuming for the first time ever ) you have not got the breathing right & this is why you are having to stop so often. It's very easy to end up breathing in & out too much & not got enough oxygen.

I am sure one of the real experts on her will be along soon to help!

I'm managing 40 lengths of front crawl approx 3 times a week too. I'm feeling very proud of that because I only started doing front crawl about 3 weeks ago (following a break of several years out of the pool).

BUT - I can only manage a length at a time and then I have to rest (at least 20/30 seconds) before the next length.

I have found that this is slightly improved if I breath on every 4th stroke but I just feel a bit frustrated that I can't do even 2 lengths without stopping.

Am I being too impatient here? Did any of you notice improvements in your fitness/breathing after a while?

I am doing 40 lengths of front crawl 3 x a week. Am very happy with it.

I am even happier that the 8 weeks I've been doing it for have made a major difference to my pelvic floor!! What a bonus!

Another 100 lengths tonight! I am sure my shoulders will feel them in the morning

sniffle - could it be that as you are developing the muscle on your abs they are just pushing your existing tummy forward?

As my Swimathon is less than 2 weeks away I tried to up the distance today by 20 lengths but only managed 16. The faster I tried to go at the end seemed to make the clock go faster too! Oh well. 2.9k wasn't a bad effort all in all

I found this article www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/members/341.cfm
Which seems to suggest there is tendency for swimmers to store more fat, but mainly due to swimming in cold water. I'm not sure it would matter in a heated pool so much. I've read other things on the tendency to store more 'brown fat' (which is a type of muscle) rather than white fat.

Apparently top class swimmers do a lot of gym work, and running too to keep in shape.

I like the use of the term "fat floats" though.....

Strange question but is there any chance swimming could make you actually store fat? I've always been somebody who doesn't put weight on easily and to be honest taken advantage of it by doing no exercise. I've recently joined a gym and started swimming, I'd say I'm doing about half a mile three times a week at a moderate pace, and I swear I have actually put a little fat on my tummy . It's not like I'm eating more as a result of exercising more either as I'm actually trying to save money at the moment too and snacks have been the easiest thing to stop buying! Any ideas? I really love swimming but I don't want to change what was a good arrangement I had with my body!!

Love the idea of waterproof MP3! That would be amazing.

Hello. I haven't been swimming for ages, but tonight I am quite literally taking the plunge with a new fitness membership and sheer determination to start a regular habit. I used to swim long distance as a young teen, and would love to get back into it. I am very unfit and very overweight, so here we go. Marking place to try and keep up motivation!

Hampshire : its heated!

Hello MN swimmers, been AWOL for a bit, how are you all?

aristo got your pool back yet?

kaizen how is your long distance training going - I can't image being able to swim for 3 hours. Good luck.

We did an interesting thing in our swim class yesterday, swam for 9 minutes three times with 1 min rest in between, the aim was to swim at least 1 length more each time. I managed about half a one!

Hoping for a swim in the sunshine soon too - our local outdoor pool is open for another few weeks only (sigh) where are you TalkinPeace?

Also to add to the thread, another cap wearer here - my head gets cold now if I don't wear one. All the girls in my swim class wear them. I only ever see a cap on a bloke for open water swims

Wow- swimming in the sun!! Good to know that somewhere it's sunny.

I tried to focus on one technique point this morning for 20 lengths- so 20 on kick, 20 on arms, 20 on early breath etc. I realised I had the attention span of a flea so would change focus every half a length. So all my "focused practice" was actually about 20 seconds on each. I'll try again tomorrow I think. Had the lane to myself, which was nice

looking forward to swimming in the sunshine tomorrow